Tottenham Hotspur 0 Swansea City 0: Parked bus, and referee Mike Dean, frustrate Wembley fans again

Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur argues with referee Mike Dean
For the love of Mike: Harry Keane was among the Spurs players who moaned at Mr Dean Credit: Getty

Mauricio Pochettino said on Wednesday that he hoped Tottenham's thrilling 3-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League would end all talk of a Wembley hoodoo, but it was back to business as usual on Saturday night.

Perhaps it was a case of 'After the Lord Mayor's Show' for Tottenham, who could not recapture the intensity nor finishing that saw them see off the German league leaders.

Lowly Swansea presented a different challenge, but by parking the bus at Wembley, where north London's traffic so often grinds to a standstill, Paul Clement brought Tottenham's upwards momentum to a shuddering halt.

This drab goalless draw was in stark contrast to the drama of Wednesday night, when Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son were clinical in front of goal. But this time they were stymied by a stubborn defence in general, and by Lukasz Fabianski in particular.

Swansea City's Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski
Number one: Swansea City's Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski Credit: AFP/Getty

Swansea's Polish goalkeeper was in inspired form, with a succession of top-class saves to deny Spurs, and the more the game wore on, the more it looked inevitable that the visitors would leave with a point, just as Burnley did three weeks ago.

Tottenham have taken only two points from a possible nine at home, in stark contrast to their almost invincible form at White Hart Lane last season, and the situation is clearly frustrating Pochettino, who knows his side cannot maintain a serious title challenge for the third successive season if they cannot win at home.

“What can we do?” he asked. “We have to play at Wembley and need to make it our home. It's a good point to talk about before or after the game, but remember Dortmund was at Wembley too.

Spurs were seeking their second Wembley win in a week
Not tonight: Spurs were seeking their second Wembley win in a week Credit: getty images

“It's too early to analyse all these things. The reality is that we have dropped a lot of points. But I am not worried. The performance was good, and we did not concede one shot on target.”

That last point should not have come as a surprise, as Swansea are getting a reputation as bus-parkers extraordinaire. This was the third time in five games that they have failed to register an effort on goal, and also their fourth successive clean sheet away from home.

Clement was unapologetic. “Good defending should be applauded. If you got to Italy it is something they are proud of.

“We didn't come here to get a draw. We had a specific plan, to keep them out and maybe score on a breakaway. I won't be greedy and ask for all the points, and I won't say we deserved to win. But if someone said to me we would come to Wembley against Tottenham and come away with a goalless draw I would have taken that.”

It looked like it was going to be a frustrating day for Tottenham from the early encounters. Dele Alli, back in the side after his suspension in the Champions League, volleyed wide, before Fabianski sprang into action to thwart Kane and Son in quick succession. Kane's free-kick was heading towards the corner of the goal before Fabianski threw himself low to his left to claw the ball away, and the Polish keeper made another excellent save from Son's shot at the near post.

Swansea's only chance of note came courtesy of a set-piece, unsurprisingly, but Tom Carroll's corner kick was headed over the bar from close range by Mike Van der Hoorn shortly before half-time.

Pochettino made changes at the break in an attempt to break through. Kieran Trippier was switched to left wing-back, Moussa Sissoko moved to the right and Son was pushed forward to support Kane, who was getting little change out of Alfie Mawson and his team-mates.

Tottenham were immediately more direct, and Christian Eriksen had a low shot well saved by Fabianski. Spurs appealed in vain for a penalty when the ball struck Martin Olsson's arm, and then were denied twice in the space of a minute, when Son's shot was blocked at the near-post, and when the ball was cut back to Kane, the striker's shot thudded off the crossbar.

Kane then looked to have scored his first league goal at Wembley when he met Eriksen's corner with a flicked near-post header, but the Polish 'keeper showed remarkable reflexes to tip the ball over the bar from point-blank range. Alli tried his luck with an overhead shot that Fabianski had to punch over the bar.

Eric Dier and Mike Dean
"Excuse me referee, might I have a word?" Eric Dier and Mike Dean Credit: Reuters

Clement made the first substitution of the game when he replaced the ineffective Renato Sanches with Leroy Fer, and Pochettino responded with a change of his own, sending on former Swansea striker Fernando Llorente and Serge Aurier. The Ivory Coast defender appealed for a penalty when he was bundled over by Jordan Ayew, but referee Mike Dean ruled he had handled the ball beforehand, although television replays showed Aurier controlled the ball with his chest.

Pochettino was unimpressed. “I respect referees' decisions, but disappointed that Mike Dean was running round telling my players it was handball. He should have stayed calm, not shout at the players.”

Frustration grew, on the pitch and among the home support. Kane shot wide from 25 yards, Trippier went agonisingly close with a piledriver from 30 yards and then Kyle Naughton slipped to allow Aurier a sight of goal, but the Ivorian stabbed his close-range shot into the side-netting.

That was the last chance, and as Swansea's supporters celebrated a famous point, Tottenham were left to rue another night of frustration at their temporary home.

                                                                                                    

Full time: Tottenham Hotspur 0 Swansea City 0

Spurs players look gutted. They will feel they should have won this, not least because they didn't have a lot of help from the refereeing decisions.

Reaction and report will follow.

Time on ball (at full time)

Average touch positions (full time)

90+ mins

Idiotic foul from Routledge, but luckily for him, his defensive colleagues manage to clear the freekick and save his bacon. Time foe one last ball into the Swansea box but that's tame, and Swansea have hung on for a really good point.

90+ mins

Bit of a hit and hope into the area from Eriksson, there's Llorente though, and he makes it into something. Aurier races onto the knockdown, shoots... and really ought to have done better there I think.

90 mins

Four minutes added. Tottenham have a corner. It falls to Trippier who absolutely mullers it, he's got every last bit of that, it flies just a couple of feet wide. Would have been one of THE great Wembley hits.

87 mins

Aurier surges into the area. Clipped from behind by Ayew. "That's a penalty," says Graham Poll on the BT Sport coverage. Tottenham certainly think so. Alderweireld makes the case so forcefully that he is booked.

85 mins

Swansea's Carroll is booked.

Mike van der Hoorn off and tricky nippy man Wayne Routledge on. Are the Swans after pinching this?

84 mins

Spurs want this badly. DEad ball, into the area. Glorious little lay off from Toby Alderweireld to his colleague Vertonghen. Sadly, the shot is much more centre-half-ish than that bit of skill from Toby.

81 mins

But while there is Harry, there is hope. Nice ball into his feet from Vertonghen, Kane has dropped back 'between the lines'. Receives, turns, shoots hard and low. A yard wide of the upright.

79 mins

Spurs giving away a lot of freekicks, perhaps frustration is telling. Sanchez has made two in a minute, the first when he hauls down Bony, and now another one that gives Swansea a freekick near the corner of the penalty box. Again it is punched clear.

One has the sneaking sense that Spurs could get their pocket picked here, somehow...

76 mins

Swansea have a freekick in a useful area. And it's a decent effort... keeper has to punch. Drops to Clucas and he has a woeful effort miles over. And miles wide. Just miles everything.

Time on ball (60 - 75 min)

75 min

More Spurs appeals for handball as Aurier's cross again hits Olsson's hand at close range inside the Swansea penalty area. Same answer from Mike Dean though: no penalty. Olsson's arm was very outstretched though. Has he got lucky there? He may well have done.

74 min

It is Son who makes way for Llorente to make his Spurs Premier League debut.

73 min

Llorente is preparing himself to come on. Can he do the damage against his former club?

71 min

Plenty of intricate Spurs build-up play, but it is all for nothing at the moment. This time Eriksen's cross sails harmlessly out of play beyond the far post.

Another change for Swansea sees Bony come on for Abraham. What a thankless task that is.

69 min

Oh Dele! Eriksen's cross from the right picks Alli out to perfection, he rises way above the Swansea defence and just needs to nod past Fabianski... but he gets his header all wrong and somehow puts the ball back across goal in totally the wrong direction.

66 min

The siege continues... one Spurs corner, two Spurs corners, three Spurs corners. But the Welsh visitors survive.

65 min

Everything has involved Son today, but Fernandez is up to the challenge yet again. This time he controls the ball with back to goal and then volleys spectacularly towards goal, only for the Swansea centre-back to halt its path. The South Korean then comes close to scoring from the resulting corner, drilling into Fabianski's foot, and Kane then forces the Swansea keeper into a brilliant save to keep out his header.

63 min

A first change for Spurs as Sissoko makes way for Aurier, which makes sense as a straight swap at right wing-back.

Time on ball (45 - 60 min)

61 min

Still, the Spurs players line up around 20 yards from goal but there is just no way through.

59 min

Leroy Fer comes on for Sanches.

It's been a mismatch at Wembley Stadium so far

Spurs are dominating this game, firing in a total of 15 shots compared to three from Swansea so far.

58 min

How have Spurs not taken the lead?????? First Son drills the ball straight at Fabianski from close range. Sissoko then picks out Kane six yards out and bang in front of goal, but the England striker whacks his shot straight onto the crossbar. Dear, oh dear. Somehow Swansea survive.

57 min

Should that have been a penalty? There are huge shouts as the ball hits Olsson's hand inside Swansea's 18-yard box but referee Mike Dean says no. It definitely hit his hand at the far post after a long, searching cross - of that there is no doubt. But presumably the referee thought it was ball to hand rather than the other way round. A very, very marginal decision.

55 min

Son is certainly seeing more of the ball in his new central position and the crowd are starting to come to life as they will the home side on. It's a similar story to the first half so far though, with Swansea maintaining their shape and Fabianski infrequently called into action.

53 min

This must be grim for the likes of Ayew and Abraham, whose service has been next to nil as Spurs continue their attempts to unlock the Swansea defence.

Credit: afp

50 min

This is better from Spurs in the early stages of this second half and Swansea are camped in their own third. The Welsh away fans must be wishing away the rest of this match.

49 min

Big shout from Alderweireld as he goes down under a challenge from Olsson as he burst into the Swansea penalty area, but the referee is unmoved. Olsson had nowhere to go and Alderweireld rather jumped into him so no surprise that the Belgian's appeals went unheard.

48 min

Looks as though Sissoko is now right wing-back, Trippier is left wing-back and Son is in central midfield. The South Korean has been so keen to get on the ball today so he will hope to flourish there. Eriksen picks the ball up and has a crack from distance, but Fabianski holds on diving low to his right with Kane lying in wait to tuck into any rebound.

46 min

Back underway at Wembley and it looks as though Trippier has started off by switching to the left. In fact I'm not quite sure what formation Spurs are playing now because Son looks to be playing very centrally now.

Shots needed

The main difference between this Spurs performance and that of Liverpool earlier was that Jurgen Klopp's side peppered Burnley with shots. Spurs have barely tested Fabianski, hitting the target just three times so far.

Half-time

The parallels with Liverpool's match at home to Burnley today are astonishing. Spurs are totally dominant (as were Liverpool), they are enjoying the overwhelming amount of possession (as did Liverpool), but they are currently drawing (the final score at Anfield was Liverpool 1-1 Burnley). What can Pochettino do to kick his side into a higher gear? Swansea are sticking resolutely to their pre-match game plan and it is working a treat.

Time on ball (first half)

Average touch positions (half time)

45 min

Vertonghen with the long-range effort this time, but Fabianski is barely troubled as he stands tall and catches it with ease.

43 min

A rare (and incorrectly awarded) Swansea corner sees Van Der Hoorn get his head on the ball bang in front of goal, but he nods it high over the bar. That would have been highly controversial had it gone in.

42 min

The same scene is being played out on repeat. Any one of the Spurs back five brings the ball forward at will, it is then knocked around the midfield and wing-backs, before the move peters out one way or another as Swansea snuff it out with their vast defensive numbers.

38 min

How did Son pop up there??? The left wing-back gets in behind the defence on the right flank and whips a wicked, low cross straight across the face of goal, forcing Fernandez to loft it over the bar with Kane lying in wait a metre behind him. That was a crucial interception by the Swansea centre-back.

Swansea looking unadventurous so far

Swansea are yet to pose a significant threat in the final third.

35 min

So many red shirts between the ball and the goal. I tell you what, Sanches and Abraham are some serious physical presences for Swansea.

33 min

Pochettino needs to inject a greater sense of dynamism into his team here. Swansea are by no means easy to break down, but they are totally nullifying the Spurs threat here and the hosts are responding by continuing to slow their play.

31 min

Kane has had one and Dier the other - now it is time for Eriksen to stand over an attacking free-kick. This one is out wide on the left flank so he will look to whip it all the way across goal... but Fernandez rises highest to nod it clear. A fine defensive header.

Time on ball (15 - 30 min)

28 min

Back to Spurs slowly building, patiently biding their time until Eriksen spots Son's run into the box, crosses in his direction and earns a corner for his troubles. Nowt comes of it though. Son is all over the park (in a good way) so far.

Spurs enjoying plenty of touches of the ball so far.

Spurs have had 217 touches of the ball compared to 127 by Swansea.

25 min

Spurs living dangerously for a moment and they are fortunate to get away with it. Sanches (the Swansea one) is the creator, playing Abraham in down the right. Sanchez (the Spurs one) clumsily attempts to bring him down, but Abraham just skips past him, pulls the ball back to Ayew and his shot is wide.

Pulling rank

23 min

... only it won't be Eriksen to take it - it will be Dier. Surely he's going to drive it hard over the wall. Nope. Instead he tries to curl it to the keeper's side and simply lifts it straight over the crossbar. What a waste.

22 min

This is dangerous. Vertonghen shows the value of three at the back by getting high up the pitch and bundled over (illegally) right on the edge of the Swansea penalty area. The perfect spot for an Eriksen free-kick...

20 min

Every time Swansea get the ball up to Abraham, he is horribly isolated. They need to give him more support if they are to show any attacking threat here.

19 min

This is neat. Very neat. Son-Eriksen-Son. Then Son-Kane-Son. Then Son-Alli-Son. Three one-twos executed beautifully to get the South Korean to the edge of the Swansea penalty area where he has a wayward crack at goal. Promising signs for the home side.

16 min

Spurs are just being halted in their build-up play with Swansea content to sit back and soak up pressure. It means it's all rather slow.

Time on ball (0 - 15 min)

15 min

It's all rather quiet (literally, very little noise) at Wembley.

11 min

Almost an action replay of a goal he scored on Tuesday! Sissoko plays in Son down the left (that bit is different from Tuesday) and the wing-back enters the same territory from which he scored against Dortmund in the Champions League. On that occasion he drove it in at the near post and he tries the same trick again, but this time Fabianski is equal to it and shows a strong hand to keep it out.

9 min

Spurs won this corresponding fixture 5-0 last season. Can they begin another rout here with Kane stood over a very central free-kick all of about 30 yards out? It will have to be good to beat Fabianksi here... and it's not far off. Struck low and hard, forcing the Swansea keeper to dive low to his left and turn it behind.

7 min

Son (playing left wing-back, remember) is enjoying plenty of space to move into high up the pitch. Unsurprisingly it looks as though Swansea might sit fairly well back today, with Spurs' three centre-halves marshalling things from the back.

Swansea threaten for the first time

Following the earlier Spurs effort, Swansea register their first attempt at goal.

3 min

A quiet start to the match with both sides happy to let everyone have an early touch of the ball. Spurs just knocking it back and forth around halfway. Eriksen then injects a surge down the left, his cross is cleared to Alli and the England midfielder's volley dribbles wide.

1 min

Swansea (in all red) kick things off and lump the ball straight up to Abraham.

Formation update

It looks as though it's Son at left wing-back for Spurs. That has had... erm... mixed results before.

Ready for action

Hands have been shaken/slapped, tracksuit tops have been taken off and the teams are assembling into position via various hugs, kisses of turf and glances at the sky.

Pochettino speaks

On today's team selection

The team is playing well in different shapes and situations. We're flexible and we try to give some freshness to the team.

The possibility to give minutes to the whole squad in this period because physical condition is so important in the Premier League.

Got to hurt

Seeing this bloke on the opposition bench today.

Credit: getty images

What formation?

What's the best guess as to how Spurs are planning on lining up at the back today:

  • Back four with Vertonghen at left-back?
  • Back five with Son at left wing-back?

Team analysis

Hello everyone and welcome to Premier League - the 5.30pm edition.

Spurs have made three changes from their victory over Borussia Dortmund, with Dele Alli, Moussa Sissoko and Kieran Trippier in for Serge Aurier, Ben Davies and Mousa Dembele. Former Swansea man Fernando Llorente joins on the bench.

Swansea's team is almost the same as the one beaten by Newcastle last week, with Mike van der Hoorn replacing Leroy Fer.

TEAM NEWS - Swansea

TEAM NEWS - Tottenham

Tottenham v Swansea - all you need to know

What is it?

It's Spurs against Swansea in the Premier League!

When is it?

It's today, so Saturday, September 16.

What time is kick-off?

This is the late game on Saturday, kicking off at 5.30pm.

What TV channel is it on?

BT Sport 1. If you don't have BT, though, you can follow the game with us on this page.

What is the team news?

Dele Alli is available having missed Tottenham's midweek victory over Borussia Dortmund due to suspension. Heung-min Son deputised in Alli's absence and scored so he could be considered on Saturday, too.

Spurs are still without Erik Lamela, Danny Rose and Victor Wanyama. Georges-Kevin Nkoudou is back in training but this could come too soon for him.

Serge Aurier is likely to drop back to the bench despite an impressive display in midweek, with Kieran Trippier coming back in.

Swansea have no new injury concerns, and Wilfried Bony is pushing for a first start since his return to the club. Paul Clement is still without injured trio Ki, Dyer and Bartley.

What are they saying?

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino on winning at Wembley: 

“Maybe people will stop talking about hoodoos like they have been for the past year. It’s fantastic not only because of three points. I hope it will stop the talk that has been around the team and the club.

“It’s massive, massive to start in that way. To get three points. It was so important to get the three points against a fantastic team like Borussia Dortmund, who have unbelievable players."

Pochettino was finally able to enjoy a game at Wembley Credit: getty images

Paul Clement:

"It is exciting, we go to the national stadium with a massive crowd against a great team. But we have been away to top four sides and picked up points, there is no reason we cannot do that."

And on Spurs's Wembley hoodoo:

"There have been examples of teams moving and having periods of adjustment. One of the reasons the record is not good is they have played a lot of Champions Leahie games there against opponents of a high level. They played very well on Wednesday, and it will be a hard game no question."

What does the table look like? 

What are the odds?

Tottenham win - 2/9 Draw - 5/1 Swansea win - 14/1

What's our prediction?

Despite only winning one game there so far this season, Tottenham have actually looked pretty good at Wembley, and the victory over Dortmund will have done wonders for their confidence.

They are huge favourites and rightly so. We're going for a 3-1 home win.

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